Is it illegal for a debt collector to call my cell phone?
No, a debt collector is allowed to call your cell phone. What the law limits is how it calls. A prerecorded message or an autodialed call or text to a cell phone needs your prior express consent under the TCPA. Calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. are presumed inconvenient, more than seven telephone calls in seven days about one debt is presumed harassment, and you can tell a collector in writing to stop.
Your cell phone is your only phone. It is with you at work, at dinner and on the bus. So when a collector starts calling it, the calls feel everywhere. The law does not ban those calls outright. It does set firm rules, and cell phones get extra protection from robocalls.
The rules that apply to every call
- Hours. Absent other knowledge, a call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your local time is presumed inconvenient (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(1)). In Florida, a person collecting a consumer debt may not communicate with you between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. without your prior consent, with an exception only for compliant email (Fla. Stat. § 559.72(17)).
- Frequency. A collector is presumed to violate the law if it places more than seven telephone calls within seven consecutive days about a particular debt, or calls within seven days after a telephone conversation with you about it (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)). The presumption can be rebutted.
- Identity. The caller must meaningfully disclose who it is (15 U.S.C. § 1692d(6)) and say it is a debt collector (§ 1692e(11)).
- Work. If your employer does not allow these calls and the collector knows it, the collector may not call you there, cell phone or not (§ 1692c(a)(3)).
Our post on seven calls in seven days walks through the count.
The extra rule for cell phones: the TCPA
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act makes it unlawful for any person to call a cell phone using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice, without the prior express consent of the called party, except for emergencies (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii)). "Any person" includes original creditors, not only collectors.
Two points narrow and widen that rule:
- "Autodialer" is narrow. The Supreme Court held that the term covers equipment that uses a random or sequential number generator (Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021)). Many modern dialers fall outside it. See the Duguid story.
- Prerecorded voice is not. Duguid did not touch the separate ban on artificial or prerecorded voice calls. A recorded message left on your cell without consent is still covered, and a text counts as a call (Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 577 U.S. 153 (2016)).
The TCPA provides $500 per violation, up to $1,500 if the violation was willful or knowing (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)). It has no fee-shifting clause. Claims generally must be filed within four years (28 U.S.C. § 1658(a)).
How to take back consent and stop the calls
Revoke robocall consent. FCC rules let you revoke consent by any reasonable method that clearly says you do not want more calls or texts. Replying "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel" or "unsubscribe" to a text is reasonable by rule, and the caller must honor it within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10)). Consent given in a contract can be different: the Eleventh Circuit held it could not be revoked unilaterally in Medley v. DISH Network.
Ban the medium. Under Regulation F, a collector must not communicate through a medium you have asked it not to use (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(h)(1)). You can say: "Do not call my cell phone. Write to me."
Stop everything. A written request to stop, or a written refusal to pay, requires the collector to cease contact except to say it is stopping or to notify you of a specific remedy (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(c)). The letter builder drafts it. A stop letter does not erase the debt, and the collector can still sue; if you are sued, do not ignore the papers, because the answer deadline is short. See sued by a debt collector.
In New York, New Jersey and Florida
The FDCPA provides actual damages plus statutory damages of up to $1,000, and requires a collector found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs; file within one year (15 U.S.C. § 1692k). In New York, GBL 601 bars communication with a frequency or at unusual hours that can reasonably be expected to abuse or harass, and New York City's amended rules set their own, tighter frequency limit from September 1, 2026. Florida's FCCPA bars harassing frequency by any person collecting a consumer debt, including original creditors (Fla. Stat. § 559.72(7)). See the New York, New Jersey and Florida pages, and the guide to robocalls and texts.
What to do this week
- Screenshot your call history before it rolls off the phone.
- Save every voicemail. A prerecorded message is evidence.
- Reply "STOP" to any collection text and keep a screenshot of your reply.
- Log each call in the call log. It flags the 7-in-7 presumption and calls outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Send a written request naming the medium you want, or asking for no contact.
Sources: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10); 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692c, 1692d, 1692e, 1692k; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.14; 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a); Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021); Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 577 U.S. 153 (2016); Medley v. DISH Network, LLC, No. 18-13841 (11th Cir. 2020); N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 601(6); Fla. Stat. § 559.72(7), (17).
Common questions
I gave my cell number on the credit application. Did I consent to robocalls?
Possibly, which is why revoking consent matters. FCC rules say you can revoke consent by any reasonable method, including replying stop to a text, and the caller must honor it within ten business days. Consent written into a contract can be harder to revoke; see Medley v. DISH Network.
Do texts count toward the seven calls in seven days?
No. The Regulation F presumption counts telephone calls only. Texts and emails do not count toward it, although they can still be harassment. Under the TCPA, on the other hand, a text to a cell phone counts as a call.
Can I just tell the collector not to call my cell?
Yes. A collector must not communicate through a medium you have asked it not to use, and a written request to stop all contact requires it to stop, except to confirm it is stopping or to notify you of a specific remedy.
Tell us what they did.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which laws the collector or the credit bureau broke, which deadline runs first, and what to save this week. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510The FDCPA and the FCRA require a company found liable to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Our fee arrangement is confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language.